Under Construction

Fence board

So Mr. H made this. Biscuit helped (she painted the back). I just provided the concept and let them go. Idea from Pinterest. Of course.

It's a wall mounted) bedside "table" in which you can store stuff but its secret purpose is as a

book place holder. Cool, eh?

And, once again with the cop out post as this was made a few days ago. All I made today was a ball of yarn. Which is more of an accomplishment than you'd think since I started with a tangle of yarn about the size of a cat. Now I have a ball of yarn and a tangle about the size of a rat. As soon as it's all ball and no tangle I intend to knit with it. May I suggest storing your yarn better than I do?

Tonight I was going to go sew but decided to check in on a few blogs first and read Alicia's news about their adoption falling through and got a bit depressed about the universe. For me, having a baby makes me want even more for everyone who wants a baby to get their baby so this sad news hit me hard for something that is happening to someone I only "know" via the internet. Sheesh, I'm tearing up just thinking about it. Gotta go distract myself.

I'm currently reading a book I bought for my 9 year old niece. She read it and liked it so I borrowed it back. I'm actually enjoying it quite a lot. It's Kiki Strike if you have a 9 year old niece who is a reader.

Would you like to help choose our Christmas card photo?

Yep, thought so! Thanks in advance--I'm probably going to make this way too complicated and then ignore your advice. Nice, right?

The contenders:

#1--Six year olds--always with the super awkward smile which disqualified about 60 out of 80 photos.

#2 Takin' it outside

#3 Creepy tongue thing but the smile is semi-genuine. Oscar is scared....

#4 Mr. H realizes we should move to the tire swing. Too bad about that chain, Oscar.

#5 They look like they like each other

So, I guess only 5 contenders. I tossed out 5 or 10 more in making this post so that was useful right there. Which one gets your vote?

And now a reminder how much we should have appreciated it when we only had to photograph one kid at a time. And a kid that doesn't know the meaning of fake smiling.

Tipped over and still happy

And finally, FINALLY some very cool shots shamelessly copied from Pinterest. I needed more lights but of course half the strand went out right when I had everything set up so there you go.What do you think, black and white or "antique"?

A few minutes after this picture that other bottom tooth came out. Ah, snaggle teeth. Gotta love 'em.

Cloth diaper

The other day Amalah mentioned the drool pads she bought to cover the straps of her ergo carrier. Talk about a head smack moment. If ever a child needed a drool pad, it's my drooly-chews-on-everything kid.

I whipped these up in about 20 minutes. The inside is (part of) a cloth diaper and the cover is a fat quarter my friend Kristin gave me as part of a baby gift for Oscar. Perfect, no? They attach with a strip of velcro (just like carseat strap covers).

Shortly after the photo shoot Oscar proceeded to spit up all over one of them so they're already destined for the laundry.

Sticks

I have several sewing projects I'm excited about but they'll take time. And effort. And by the time the kids are asleep I'm more about brainless and easy.

So I made a pile of god's eyes for ornaments.

This one is my favorite. Here's the color inspiration.

Lever 2000

Yeah, this is a total cop out but I've spent the entire evening fighting with computers in an attempt to order some fabric from Spoonflower during their free shipping deal. Ah the lengths I will go to to avoid paying shipping. If the fabric works out I might have something cool to show. Soon. Ish.

In the meantime, did a 3-minute-not-too-successful project--felted soap.

The wool is very pretty up close. I know in the photo it looks like a lump of gray lumpiness so you'll just have to trust me.

You need some soap to felt but as I was trying to felt this it seemed like I was just using up the soap and making a big sudsy mess. So it's rather lightly felted. I figure it'll felt more in use. In fact, I'll try it tomorrow and report back. I was thinking of making this as a gift (hi, sis) but I'm pretty sure it's too lame. Oh well.

Penny

MOM and JAN don't keep reading. Just stop at the photo! Look, Oscar is learning to sit up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

So anyway, I saw this cool gift idea on Pinterest. If you want to buy one, here's the Etsy listing. Finding the pennies took days of searching and, ultimately, swapping a pile of pennies in a tip jar at the copy shop for a dollar bill. That was the mother lode--found all the years I needed!

This is for my mom so I included four pennies--one for each of her daughters and one for each of her grandchildren.

After I found the pennies and a keyring (from the junk drawer ;) The drilling and assembly took about 5 minutes.

My favorite part is the difference between Oscar's shiny penny and my tarnished one. But his is mostly zinc and mine is all copper, baby!

Removable contact paper

Those pressed leaves are getting put to good use.

Inspired by the "botanical" section of the Martha Stewart Craft Encyclopedia I remembered this amazing springtime "stained glass" found via Pinterest and there you have it.

Biscuit and I finally pressed enough leaves to do all 7 of our front room windows.

During the day, they look amazing from the inside.

And at night, it's quite pretty (and quite hard to photograph) from the outside.

The windows are pretty but the walks with Biscuit and Oscar to gather the leaves were the best part. Biscuit took notes on each type of leaf (providing names like sickomore and more fanciful names like purple sunrise). It took forever but the weather was great, the baby was happy and what better way is there to spend an afternoon?

Happy Autumn!

Upholstery samples

In this post we're going to practice the "mom scroll."

KRISTY don't keep reading.

Here's a picture of Oscar's TWO teeth!

And here's yesterday's wreath on the door!

And here's today's project. Pencil pouches!

Years and years ago when this blog was young (and probably not even at this url) a reader sent me a box full of upholstery samples. I'm sad to say I've forgotten who mailed it. But, finally, I've used some!

The brownish ones are extremely late birthday gifts for my friend's boys. They'll be mailed along with personalized pencils (!) a concept I was turned on to by Ali's post.

The pink one in the middle is for Biscuit. She'll also be receiving pencils along with the ream of printer paper I've promised her. That kid is a total paper thief with no sense of conservation or recycling. All projects require a fresh sheet. Luckily she also has her beloved white board and our printer is on the fritz so we aren't really using the paper anyway. I just noticed the paper tray is empty. With a broken printer. Hmmm.

Magnolia leaves

A few blocks away there is a magnolia tree which appears to be all green but is dropping yellow/brown glossy leaves in the gutter at an amazing rate.

Tonight we took a walk to collect the leaves. When we left, the sky was pretty.

When we got home, the sky was prettier.

In about 15 minutes we made a wreath of the magnolia leaves. I had a straw wreath form on hand and just wrapped twine around it attaching a leaf or two with each wrap of the twine. At the end I tucked the stems under where I started and called it a day. A bit uneven but it'll do. It's already hanging on my door.

Those leaves are so shiny they're hard to photograph!

Thanks for all the ideas on the white wreath...I'm mulling my options but I've got some time now since this one will be up at least through Thanksgiving!

The intestines are the best part

After all our leaf activities yesterday, Biscuit made this handy, informational chart.